Page 267 of The Sun Sister

‘Hi, Miles,’ I said as he walked in. ‘How are you?’

‘Better, breaking the back of the cases on my desk and...’

Miles stopped mid-sentence as I led him into the living room and he saw who was sitting there. Stella stood up to greet him.

‘Hello, I’m Stella Jackson, Electra’s grandmother. And you are Miles...?’

‘Miles Williamson,’ he said as his long legs covered the distance of my spacious living room in one and a half paces, and he took Stella’s hand. ‘It’s an honour to meet you, ma’am. I heard you speak once at Harvard. You’ve done amazing things and been an inspiration to me personally.’

Oh God,I thought,he looks as though he’s about to cry.

‘Why, thank you, Miles, but as I’m sure you’re aware, what I do is just a drop in the ocean.’

‘No, it’s more than that, ma’am. You’ve been a voice for those who don’t have one, and you haven’t cared who hears it.’

‘That’s true,’ Stella chuckled. ‘I’ve made as many enemies as I’ve made friends in my lifetime, but you gotta speak out and be heard, don’t you?’

‘You sure do, and on behalf of me and my generation, I want to take the chance to personally thank you for doing that.’

‘Electra and I were just talking through an idea I’ve had for her, haven’t we, Electra?’ Stella eyeballed me.

‘Yeah, we have, but I’m not sure—’

‘I don’t want to hold you two young things up, but won’t you sit down for a moment, Miles? It might be good to hear your opinion on my suggestion.’

‘Sure.’ Miles walked to the chair opposite Stella and sat down as I stood there, arms folded, and glared at my grandmother.

‘Can’t we talk about this another time?’

‘Sorry, Electra, but Miles is your friend and he might have a valid opinion on the subject.’

Yeah, right, I thought.He’d fly to the moon for you if you asked him to.

I stood there as Stella outlined her plan for me to speak at the concert. I braced myself for Miles’s enthusiasm and subsequent persuasion to the cause.

‘Right,’ he said when Stella had finished. Then he turned and looked at me. ‘I can understand why you’re in two minds, Electra. You’ve been through a lot recently, and doing something like that – baring your soul in front of millions – takes real bravery. You need time to think about it, don’t you?’

‘Yeah, I do,’ I said with feeling.

‘As I said to Electra, we don’t have that much time. I have to tell them by tomorrow so she can be put in the programme,’ Stella said.

‘I think the last thing Electra needs is that kind of pressure, if you don’t mind me saying, ma’am. Now, I’m gonna take your granddaughter out to dinner and the two of us can talk it through.’ Miles stood up. ‘Ready to go, Electra?’

‘Yup.’

Then he reached out a hand and offered it to me. I walked across the room to him and took it and felt him squeeze it tightly. He turned to Stella.

‘It’s been a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we can talk again soon. Goodnight.’

And with that, he led me out of the apartment.

Maybe it was the swoosh of the elevator going down, but I felt a weird rush of something in my stomach that just might be called love. By the time we reached the lobby, there were tears in my eyes that I couldn’t explain.

‘Wasn’t that rude of us?’ I asked him as, still holding my hand, he walked me outside into the warm June night.

‘Oh, she’ll cope,’ he grinned at me, as he hailed a cab.

‘Where are we going?’